Salmon migration behind request to close dams

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Two conservation groups in Maine are asking a federal judge to order the temporary shutdown of turbines on four hydroelectric dams on the Kennebec and Androscoggin rivers to protect thousands of tiny Atlantic salmon as they migrate downriver this spring.

Environment Maine and the Friends of Merrymeeting Bay say they've filed a motion in federal court in Portland arguing that a large number of endangered salmon smolts will be killed in the spinning turbine blades in violation of the Endangered Species Act if the turbines aren't shut down.

The dams are owned by Toronto-based Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners. A Brookfield spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.